LAKE ELSINORE IS MORE THAN JUST A LAKE

Historical Society guides in period clothing lead trips

Members of the Lake Elsinore Historical Society in 19th-century garb explained how their city is much more than a giant lake and a few outlet stores on Saturday during the “Walk, Talk and Taste Downtown Historic Tours.”

“This city is full of lots of wonderful history,” said Ruth Atkins, president of the historical society, who sat at a table outside the Lake Elsinore Cultural Center along Main Street, the site of a Methodist church built in 1923.

“There’s so much to learn just along this street,” Atkins added, pointing to a yellow wood structure down the street that was originally built in 1887 as the Grand Army of the Republic building for veterans of the Civil War.

The event was created to teach people about local history and to raise money for local scholarships, she said.

The hourlong walking tour, led by society members, included food tastings at restaurants and time in antique shops and other stores, where participants were given coupons for future shopping. About 40 people had bought $15 advance tickets, she said.

The inaugural walking tours coincided with the city’s yearlong ongoing 125th birthday celebration and highlighted 17 structures within four city blocks along the Main Street artery.

Several downtown structures date to the late 1800s, including the old Santa Fe train depot, City Hall, the old Elsinore Theater, and the Tank House, originally built as Leemon’s Restaurant.

David Blake, who moved to Lake Elsinore from Orange County about a year ago, was spotted waiting to join a walking tour. The 37-year-old said he has always been interested in history and old buildings.

“I’m out here because I want to learn more,” he said. “I love to dive into the history of America, and there’s no other time like the 1830s. That’s when this place got started.”

Floyd Berger, a vice president of the historical society, said he’s hoping the event will grow and continue.

“We’re going to keep doing this,” he said. “We want to get people more aware of the community and the people who made it.”

Berger, who grew up in Lake Elsinore, said his father was a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton during the Korean War — a war that helped build this city by the lake as veterans moved here permanently, he added.

“There are so many interesting characters who lived here,” he said. “Pancho Villa’s driver lived here, for example.”

Barbara Middlebrook, another vice president for the historical society, said the event will probably make people more aware of what’s around. “A lot of people don’t even know we have a museum,” she added.